A newspaper misprint began a Christmas Eve tradition joining holiday cheer with military technology

Seventy years ago, a child phoned the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) looking for Santa Claus – and found him, or at least some kindly military personnel who were willing to play along by helping the youngster to track Santa's location as he zipped around the globe.

NORAD, then known as the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD), took calls from children near its Colorado Springs headquarters by mistake.

According to NORAD commander General Gregory Guillot, the 70-year-old tradition of NORAD tracking Santa Claus' journey around the world on Christmas Eve began in 1955 with a newspaper misprint.

As the story goes, a Sears Roebuck ad included a phone number for children to call, but that number was wrong. Instead of reaching the retailer’s Christmas line, it included the unlisted number for NORAD command.